Energy supply of the future

A reliable energy supply at reasonable prices is an important location factor. Sustainable energy supply is therefore one of the central future tasks for the 21st century.

Yet there is still plenty to do: existing energy must be used more efficiently and renewable energy must be used more. Low-calorific waste heat, which is produced by many industrial processes, is rarely used in a worthwhile way.

Intelligent network

In densely populated areas, energy producers and consumers can be linked intelligently with a regional energy cluster. In its package of measures for implementation of the Bavaria climate targets 2020 ("Klimaziele Bayern 2020"), the Bavarian state government provides for increased realisation of local energy clusters for use of low-calorific thermal energy. An initial study of the potential on behalf of the State Environmental Agency (LfU) provided the decisive insight that there are not only technical or thermodynamic hurdles to overcome, but also diverse legal, economic and fiscal obstacles, which stand in the way of comprehensive implementation of such regional energy clusters.

Region of Augsburg

The Augsburg region offers optimum prerequisites for studying these obstacles in detail and for drawing up proposed solutions. The starting point of all considerations is the waste recycling company Abfallverwertung Augsburg GmbH (AVA GmbH) in Lechhausen industrial park and the two adjacent power plants (gas turbine and biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant) of Stadtwerke Augsburg Energie GmbH. A new substitute fuel power plant of MVV-IGS GmbH in Gersthofen chemical park, which will primarily generate process steam for the chemical production there as well as electrical power, but nevertheless – as the situation currently stands – will also discharge low-calorific waste heat into the environment rather than using it.

This basic fact also applies to other power generation plants, whether they are geothermal or biogas plants, etc. Furthermore, waste heat at a relatively low temperature level is produced in numerous production processes, for example, comparatively continuously during paper production (UPM Kymmene) and on the other hand intermittently in metallurgical processes (MAN Diesel). From a thermodynamic/technical viewpoint alone, such a regional energy cluster involves a multidimensional optimisation task. The supply side, i.e. the "energy sources" and the demand side, i.e. the "energy sinks", will be recorded with an extensive regional inventory for the Augsburg economic region.

Technical feasibility concept

Based on this, a technical feasibility concept will be determined, in which ecological advantageousness will be the main optimisation criterion ("maximum contribution to climate protection"). Should this technically/ecologically optimal concept not be implementable directly, due to the diverse obstacles outlined above, the next steps will be:

Point out the restrictions and if applicable inform the legislator of the need for revision.

Development of a "compromise concept", which represents a compromise between the ecological optimum and particular interests, acceptable as far as possible to all, and feasible within the existing legal framework.

At the end of the study a concept that can actually be implemented in the region should exist, which can then be used as a model for other regions. The feasibility study is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Health ("Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Gesundheit") and the State Environmental Agency ("Landesamt für Umwelt") is providing non-financial support.